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Well hello Procatsitters, you’re listening to Procatsitter Today, episode #16 Today’s podcast is about building resilience into your cat business and your life. The world may look pretty bleak right now, fortunately, it’s not forever. Those of us in the pet care business need to be ready for the rebound. And there’s plenty we can do right now to prepare. Let me start by saying, if you or someone you love has this terrible virus or if you’ve lost someone to it, my heart goes out to you. To be worried about your financial future is one thing, to be grieving or afraid for loved ones at the same time is unimaginable. My own father is in a care home after suffering a massive stroke. Even though he gets good care, I’m still concerned about his safety all the time. He is in one of the most vulnerable groups. The fear and anxiety I’m feeling about him and other family members affect all aspects of my life right now. Our routines have also been completely uprooted and replaced with this new reality - just like that.   We’re all grieving the loss of structure and income from our pet care businesses. And to make matters worse, we’re confined to our homes. Under these circumstances, it’s easy to fall prey to hopelessness and despair.   Cats and Stress I think we can take a lesson from cats here. Cats live in the moment. They don’t worry about next week or even the next hour. They do their best to adapt to the moment they’re living at any given time. Cats thrive on routine. The more predictable their environment is, the healthier they are. The same is true for humans. We have 6 senior cats who love their well-established routine. Every morning, they gather in the kitchen waiting for one of us to get up and start making their breakfast. It’s like they all have their own watches! The same routine plays out at the end of the day for dinner. My oldest cat, Skylar, will sit at my office door meowing loudly if I’m late for his dinner routine. During the rest of the day, they all have their favorite spots to relax and play. And this is all tied to our regular routines. As cat sitters, we know that keeping a cat’s routine as close to normal as possible leads to much smoother visits. These routines are something they depend on to keep comfortable and stress-free. Cats become stressed fast if their routine is changed. If reliable sources of food and water or safe places to sleep, play and relax, are not there, cats can become stressed very quickly. Under those circumstances, a cat can develop bad habits like overgrooming, aggression, or other destructive behavior as they try to adapt to stressful changes. Just like cats, when we’re without stable routines and rituals, it can feel like we have no control over anything in our life. leaving us feeling helpless.   Keep Your Vision - Change Your Habits You can’t control what happens in the world or thoughts that pop into your head, but you can control how you respond to these things. Remember, this isn’t about changing your vision for your business, it’s about changing your strategy to get there. There will be good days and bad days. Sometimes you’ll feel strong and sometimes not so much. Now is the time to be very gentle with yourself. Give yourself time to adapt to this new environment. Build predictability into your routine with good, productive habits and you will be thriving on the other side of this. I’m not trying to diminish your concerns These are terrible times, but they don’t have to be catastrophic. It’s essential to take steps that will keep your health and your business resilient. Focus on what you can control. Taking care of your health during these scary times is not just about handwashing and social distancing. Now more than ever it’s important to avoid falling into destructive habits. Good habits will keep you physically, mentally and financially resilient. It’s easy to turn to solutions that are unhealthy when we’re anxious. Over drinking or overeating, can put our body and mind under tremendous stress. We do this because we’re seeking comfort. But in ways that won’t help us. And when we have unlimited time to indulge in them, they can cause harm. Drinking too much every night, mindlessly watching Netflix, oversleeping or undersleeping can lead to more bad habits. When we feel anxious and afraid, alcohol intensifies these feelings. It can make us feel more isolated and unproductive because alcohol is a depressant. I’m not telling you not to drink. I’m just saying you should be aware of the amount and frequency of your drinking.  Once you’re in deep with these harmful habits, it’s harder to break free of them. Watch out for sharp increases in what you consume. And if it’s becoming a problem for you. Try to keep it out of your environment as much as possible.   Keep A Reasonable Schedule An enormous amount of research has shown that just following a regular schedule keeps you healthy and well equipped to face stressful times. This schedule should include work as well as time for yourself to play and relax. Decide when your workday will start and when it will end, then stick to it. Instead of worrying all day about what could go wrong in the future, Schedule time to problem solve each week. Scheduling when you’ll deal with stressful things, like paying monthly bills, makes it possible for you to relax and take a break from stress for the rest of the week. Monday morning is when I tackle all bill issues. When it comes to listening to the news stay informed but avoid letting negative news consume your entire day. My news time is 6 p.m. Not too close to bedtime, but late enough that it won’t drain the creativity and motivation I need earlier in the day. It’s not just your mind that needs to stay on schedule during this time. You’ve got to keep your body moving as well. Since you’re likely not moving around as much as you normally would, you’re missing out on vital exercise that keeps your mood stable. Create a great playlist of music then put on some comfy clothes and just start moving for 10 to 15 minutes. This really helps me shake off the stress of the day. I just want to make it clear, though, I am not an expert on mental health. If you are experiencing uncontrolled anxiety which is seriously affecting your ability to do even ordinary things like eating and sleeping, please don’t suffer in silence. Ask your doctor for a referral to a qualified professional.   Business Resilience Businesses and charities are scrambling to make the best of a bad situation and are rolling out virtual events and activities to stay connected with their clients and donors. That’s good news for the cat sitting business. For example, let’s look at an industry that is closely tied to the cat sitting business: The travel business. They’re spending a lot of money to keep their clients thinking of them. And they’ll continue to spend until it’s safe to travel again and beyond. For example, a travel company named Zegrahms Expeditions has launched its “Armchair Exploration” series that allows people to get a virtual experience of an adventure they’ve been craving. Another example is the Divi resorts in Aruba. With all the hotels closed, they’ve come up with some creative ways to keep themselves top of mind with their past and future clients. They call it #DiviDoseofParadise Their updated website has lots of ideas to give people a virtual feel of laying in a hammock on the beach at their resort. They even include a playlist of Caribbean music, called “The sounds of Aruba.” They also feature recipes so clients can get a taste of Aruba-inspired dishes from the resort’s kitchens. Or mix themselves an Aruban cocktail served just as it would be at one of the beach bars. Visitors also get a list of Aruba themed books and movies to keep the travel feeling alive and well. The idea is to create an atmosphere of being in Aruba using as many of the senses as possible. This keeps their clients contemplating future vacations at the Divi resort.  It also gives their people a break from the same four walls of worry and boredom they’ve been staring at for weeks. But it’s not just the travel industry finding ways to engage with clients, charities are also getting creative to stay connected with their donors. Our local cat shelter, which I’ve supported for years, has had to cancel all their spring and summer fundraising events. These seasonal fundraisers are a vital part of their overall fundraising plan. So, they’ve gone to virtual events such as a cat photo calendar contest and similar things. You too can come up with ways to give current and future clients a taste of the love, professionalism, and peace of mind that comes with using your service. Maybe you could feature a weekly photo contest asking people to send in pictures of their cats enjoying extra family time? Or have people submit photos of their favorite vacation destinations. Or a photo of them taking part in their favorite vacation activity, golf, swimming, zip-lining, etc. People are on their computers in record numbers now, so reach out and stay engaged not just with current clients but also with future clients. Invite potential clients to contact you to learn about your services before they need it. Then when the world gets moving again, your name will be the first one that comes to mind. There’s no reason to stop building your client list now. And every reason to build it even more. But what if you can’t stay focused on business projects because of stress and new responsibilities at home? Your best strategy is to put good habits in place that will become easier and more resilient as you practice them. Determine your best, most creative time of day, and start there. Get up every morning as if you’re going to work. Get dressed, shower, brush your teeth, and get settled in a comfortable workplace. Get to work on all those administrative projects and tasks you’ve gotten behind on. Identify a specific goal or task you want to accomplish each day. Will you be working on your monthly newsletter? Or create a photo challenge for your social media followers? Write your daily goal down and do it. This will keep you moving forward. When was the last time you had a chance to update client files? Email clients you haven’t heard from in a while and ask how they’re doing. Other business-related work could be practicing cat photography with your own cats. Hone your skills to create a catalog of appealing cat photos that you can use for your social media posts. Plan and schedule photo shoots using props you find around the house. Find a quiet, comfortable space to work with your cat. With patience and planning, you will soon have a lot of great images. Remember, keep the sessions relaxed and fun for the cats. And stop before they lose interest. Schedule time to increase your skills on a free design tool like Canva to create branded social media templates and posts. The more you practice skills like copywriting, photography, live video, and design, the more prepared you’ll be when the lockdowns start to lighten up and it’s safe to travel again. Find ways to make others feel better with uplifting and encouraging posts. Remember, many of your clients are sad and worried, too. Here are some other ideas: Review and update all your consultation and contract forms. Do they reflect your current policies? What about cancellations? Have you discovered some weaknesses there that could be improved due to this current crisis? Organize and clean your workspace. Set boundaries to protect your work schedule. Your family should be aware when you are working and when you are available.   New Habits Take Time Creating productive habits will keep you resilient now and when things get back to normal. But this won’t happen all at once It takes time, practice, and planning Give yourself time to build these new habits. Because this crisis will come to an end. You will survive this. And I want to do everything in my power to help you come out of this strong and prepared to rebuild your business and your life. A really good book to learn more about the power of building good habits is called “Atomic Habits: An Easy And Proven Way To Build Good Habits And Beak Bad Ones.”  By James Clear. In it, James explains how little changes make the biggest difference. And how the environment you create matters more than willpower and motivation. By creating small, consistent habits in our environment we can affect the biggest changes in our life and business. So, what books or activities are you finding helpful or inspiring for the times? Let me know, I’m always looking for more ideas! Well that’s it for this episode I know you have a lot on your mind and I want you to know I’m here for you. Do you have a question, a vent, or just want to chat? Or, maybe you’d like an accountability partner for a new habit you’re trying to implement? Send me an email through my website, procatsitter.com. Message me on Facebook @Cathyhamm or Instagram @Procatsittercathy, anytime. Until next time Take care